Teresa's Story
by HPCKeyboard
Summary: It's Rachael! :3 It's Harry's 5th year at Hogwarts, and the Order of the Phoenix's best kept secret has been revealed. Harry's world and an orphan named Teresa's lives turn upside down in a matter of minutes. Lives will change... Please read!
1. Chapter 1

The Order of the Phoenix sat around a circle table, in a heated debate. Fred and George Weasley were testing out their new Extendable Ears project at the door. Neither could catch what the Order was saying, but all they could pick up was that Remus Lupin and Sirius Black were being scolded heavily by the rest of the Order.  
>Inside the room, Sirius defended himself and Lupin. "We weren't allowed to tell! We had to swear! We had to make the Unbreakable Vow, Molly! It wasn't our faults!"<br>Molly Weasley crossed her arms. "I'm sure you did, but being you, Sirius, you could well have found a loophole and given us a tip-off in some way!"  
>In the hallway, Fred and George were forced to dive sideways into a broom cupboard and abandon their mission, caused by Severus Snape, who burst into the room, cloak billowing behind him.<br>"Severus," Arthur Weasley said. "Close the door behind you. Lock it. I reckon you know what is going on?"  
>With a flourish of his wand, the door slammed closed and locked itself. Snape sat at the end of the table and gave a crooked smile. "Ah, Sirius, finally broke out of that old room with that hippogriff and decided to join in the fun for once?"<br>Sirius glared at Snape and said, "If you were one of the most wanted people in the entire Wizarding world, I bet you would hide too, Snivellus."  
>At the sound of the name, Snape stood so fast the chair he had sat on only a moment ago slammed to the ground and his wand was drawn in a blink of an eye.<br>Mrs. Weasley scolded, "Severus, put the wand away, right your chair, and sit. We have a meeting to get through."  
>Snape grudgingly obeyed and sat. Mr. Weasley spoke after a brief pause. "When will we get the girl? Who will do it?"<br>Sirius asked the next question. "Who will tell Harry?"  
>Again, Mrs. Weasley spoke. "Dumbledore said he would fetch the girl and explain everything to her. He said he would wait a week, when Harry's here."<br>"Well, shouldn't I get a say in anything that happens to the poor thing?" Lupin spoke up.  
>"Why on earth you?" Snape gloated.<br>"Because, Severus, I'm her godfather in the first place." Lupin snapped, reaching a nervous hand to his wine glass.  
>Snape did not answer, but said quickly, "I have limited time, so if we could hurry this along-" Before he could finish the sentence, Sirius cut him off with the snap, "Yes, it would be terrible if we made you late for one of your little Death Eater parties."<br>Snape stood yet again, with Sirius following his lead. "How dare you accuse me-"  
>Sirius sneered. "Sorry for telling the truth, and only the truth, Snivellus."<br>Lupin got to his feet, too. "Enough, Sirius. Severus, if you need to leave," He motioned toward the door, standing between him and Sirius.  
>Snape sneered and left the room, the door slamming behind him. Fred and George emerged from their hiding place, having heard nothing, and, disappointed, trudged upstairs to make corrections on the Extendable Ears.<br>For the first time, Nymphadora Tonks spoke. "What's her name? How old is she?"  
>Lupin's eyes softened as he sat down again and replied, "Her name's Teresa. She's 15, same as Harry, only just turned, and she's the spitting image of Lilly."<br>Tonks replied, nodding, "So they're twins?"  
>Lupin nodded, almost smiling. "And Harry has no idea." He added as an afterthought, "She lives in America."<br>Mrs. Weasley looked nervous and turned to her husband. "So is Alastor coming for dinner?"  
>Mr. Weasley had been staring off, and when he finally seemed to have heard Mrs. Weasley, he turned to her and hastily said, "Oh, yes! In fact, we should start preparing it, but first, Remus would like to ask everyone something…"<br>"Yes," Remus said. "We need everyone's word that no one will tell Harry, or the other children."  
>Everyone around the little table in the kitchen of Grimmauld Place nodded, all except for Sirius, who said, "But he has the right to know!"<br>"Sirius, you say that about everything. This is bigger. This is a family member he doesn't know about. Dumbledore has to tell him." Lupin replied, looking Sirius in the eye. "Your word, Sirius?"  
>Sirius nodded, and stood. He muttered something about trying to find Kreacher the house elf, and walked out. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley stood, too, and Mrs. Weasley began waving her wand as different pots, pans, and food zoomed around the room, beginning to cook themselves with her supervising. Tonks said good-bye, as she couldn't stay for dinner, and walked out into the night.<br>Ron Weasley, at the smell of dinner cooking, walked into the room grinning and said, "Excellent. What are we having for dinner?"  
>Ginny Weasley followed him into the room and said, "You're always hungry, Ron."<p>

Teresa Potter sat in her little, cramped room in King's Orphanage. She held in her hand a necklace with a starfish charm dangling off the end. As she held it, she saw the shadows on her floor start to lengthen as the sun sank. After a few moments, she heard heavy trudging outside in the hallway, signaling someone was coming towards the room. She shoved the necklace under the flat, uncomfortable pillow and jumped onto the bed, pretending to be bored and twirling her hair with her finger. Matthew Jinkins ripped open the door, wearing a stupid smile, and said, "Not touching anything, are you, Potter?"


	2. Chapter 2

AN- Wow, I'm stupid. I published the old Chapter 1 ): Ah, well, I'll publish the REAL one in this chapter! Thank you so much for the reviews! :D

Ginny Weasley followed him into the room and said, "You're _always _hungry, Ron."

Teresa Potter sat in Algebra class, silent and bored half to death. She couldn't seem to wrap her head around the concept they were learning, and she couldn't keep her mind off of the strange dream she had had last night.

She wondered why the strange bespectacled boy kept appearing in her dreams, and why he kept asking who she was. She had introduced herself numerous times, but he still didn't know who she was. To be fair, though, she didn't know who _he _was either. Every time his name entered her mind, before she could get a firm grip on it, it would slip away like sand between fingers. It bothered her.

Her pencil found her scratch paper and she began to draw, slowly at first, but warming up to the image and getting faster and faster. She didn't have a clear image of what she was drawing at first, just some lines that ended up together in the end.

"Ms. Potter. Are you paying _any _attention?" the brunette teacher asked, pausing in the middle of the lecture and giving a cold hard stare at Teresa.

"Of course, Mrs. Bloom," Teresa lied quickly, putting the pencil back to her notes and scribbling the word '_expression'. _Mrs. Bloom seemed satisfied and returned to the lecture as the other students around Teresa sniggered.

Teresa's pencil returned to the drawing, and, as Teresa watched, it transformed into a long, coiling snake. Teresa watched and was startled to see it begin to slither on the page. She was frightened, and dropped her pencil. She stared at the snake as the thick, wide-shouldered boy sitting next to her watched the pencil glide away on the floor laughing.

Teresa glanced at the pencil, and when her eyes drew back to the living image of the snake, it had gone.

_Nagini, Nagini, _a voice chanted in her head. _Nagini, Nagini, Nagini._

Who was Nagini? What foreign language could that be, and why was it in her head? She wished with all her might that her pencil was back, because she knew if she stood to get it, the other children would throw things at her, and the teacher would be angry at her for getting up.

She watched Mrs. Bloom scribble problems on the board and continued to wish her pencil was back in her hand.

She heard a soft _plunk, _and looked on her desk. The long, thin, Number Two pencil sat on the desk, centimeters away from the paper she was taking notes on. She inhaled and looked around. No one was kind enough in the class to pick it up for her. She looked at the wide-shouldered boy. He showed no signs of caring or intelligence. She looked to her left. A short, mean-looking boy sat there, glaring at her with his teeth bared. She knew he wouldn't do that for her.

She dropped the pencil again, this time on purpose. She watched it for a few seconds, and then looked at the board. She tried to remember what she had done the first time.

Wish! That was it. She thought about the pencil being in her hand, the cold, flat, wooden feel to it. She wished it were back in her hand.

_Plunk._

There it was again, sitting on her desk, the same distance away from her paper. She gasped quietly and realized that _no one _had done it. It had somehow made its way to her.

_Impossible, Teresa, get a hold of yourself!_ she thought.

The bell rang. Students rushed out of their desks and out into the hallway, ready for freedom and for the weekend. Teresa moved slowly, regretting the return back to the orphanage she lived in. Her piercing green eyes moved over the pencil as she stuffed it in her pocket and left.

She clutched her books to her chest and walked slowly. A boy she recognized all too well walked up with a few of his stupid friends.

"Hullo, Potter," he said, greeting her with a malicious grin and knocking her books down.

"Cut it out, Jinkins, or I'll hurt you!" Teresa threatened, her hair flipping as she reached down for her books. One of Jinkins's little cronies grabbed her and flung her against the wall, holding her by the neck. She kicked and thrashed, her auburn hair flailing like the rest of her limbs madly and blindly.

"JINKINS! LET ME GO, YOU TOAD!"

"Toad? Potter, you're running out of insults- fast."

Teresa found her breath and flung her fist at the boy's stomach. He released her, bellowing in pain and grasping his stomach as Teresa grabbed her books and ran as fast as she could from the school. She put her hand in her pocket.

The pencil had gone.

Teresa sat in her little, cramped room in King's Orphanage. She held in her hand a necklace with a starfish charm dangling off the end. As she held it, she saw the shadows on her floor start to lengthen as the sun sank. After a few moments, she heard heavy trudging outside in the hallway, signaling someone was coming towards the room. She shoved the necklace under the flat, uncomfortable pillow and jumped onto the bed, pretending to be bored and twirling her hair with her finger. Matthew Jinkins ripped open the door, wearing a stupid smile, and said, "Not touching anything, are you, Potter?"

Teresa swung her legs over the side of the bed and glared, replying, "Obviously not, Jinkins, or it would be out of place, wouldn't it?"

His small eyes scanned the room and he walked in, leaving the door swinging helplessly on broken hinges behind him.

Teresa stood, taking a step toward him, and said, "This isn't your room anymore, Jinkins. It's mine."

Jinkins smiled the dumb grin again, and replied, "No it's not. I gave it up for you because Mrs. King made me. And anyway… it's a free country, Potter."

Teresa glowered at him and took another step towards him. "Get out." She said calmly, tossing her auburn hair over her shoulder and crossing her arms.

Jinkins stared into her eyes and said, "Make me."

Teresa took a few more steps toward him. He laughed and his smile widened. "Oh, no, Potter's gonna get me!" He said, unmoving.

Teresa took one more step and received a blow to the stomach that knocked her halfway across the room. Jinkins laughed as he shook his fist again, claiming victory, and swung the already broken door shut behind him.

She coughed and stood again, rubbing the point of impact where Jinkins had slammed his fist into the center of her ribcage. She collapsed onto her bed, frowning, tears of pain welling in the corners of her eyes, but she wouldn't allow them to fall.

Night came, and still Teresa lay on the bed, fully made. Eventually, she stood when she heard an owl outside the window, and, opening the shutters, saw a magnificent snowy owl, hooting and looking into her eyes with its big, yellow ones. She leaned her face on her arm, watching it watch her, and then it flew away, up and above the sign that said clearly, 'KING'S ORPHANAGE', surrounded by the sad, dying trees, and the American flag on the high flag post. She watched it fly away sadly. Before she could watch it disappear over the treetops, she heard the sharp, loud bell toll that meant dinner was finally here. Teresa stood, brushing the dust off her white khakis that were 3 sizes too big on her, and flung the door open, joining the other children who were peeking their heads out, and trudging down the steep, wooden steps. Teresa watched from afar as Jinkins and his gang of stupid boys laughed at her, pointing to the dust stains she couldn't manage to brush off and drawing fingers across their throats. She lifted her chin a fraction higher and continued down the stairs, past the other children, and to the dinner table, where the owner of the orphanage, Mrs. King, watched with her ugly, black eyes.

Mrs. King had taken over the family business, and the odd trait that all the women in the King family looked like men. She had manly features, and Teresa swore she was growing a beard. Her face was bony and hairy, with the ugly eyes; big, misshapen nose; and thin, thin lips.

Teresa stood in line before her selected seat with the other children and waited for the order to sit and eat. Jinkins laughed from the other table silently, gloating with his little friends who looked admiringly up at him.

Mrs. King's gruff, low voice came clearly as it said, "Sit."

There was a scrape of benches and chairs as every child sat. No one touched their silverware or plates. They knew better.


End file.
